Romania

On 12 and 13 June, the final meeting of a working group of media regulatory and frequency planning institutions from seven countries in eastern Europe took place at the Hungarian media regulatory authority NMHH in Budapest with the ceremonial signing of an agreement on the use of DAB+ frequencies in the joint frequency planning area. Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Romania participated in the working group. The working agreement now concluded enables the administrations to tender for new or additional DAB+ multiplex coverage by agreeing on technical reference parameters for future DAB+ transmitter stations.

ANCOM has published in consultation the Draft Government Decision on the granting of licenses for the use of DAB+ radio frequencies in Romania. The competitive selection procedure requires each bidder to submit an initial bid indicating the multiplexes they wish to acquire. If demand exceeds the number of multiplexes available, primary rounds of bidding will be organised until the demand no longer exceeds the offer.

ANCOM has published a draft working document which details the licence fee to operate DAB+ multiplexes in Romania, the starting price for multiplexes with national coverage being 75,000 euros, and for those with regional coverage starting from 1,050 euros.

The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) announced on Wednesday that it has published in consultation the Draft Government Decision on granting licences to operate radio frequencies for DAB+ broadcasting in Romania.

The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has announced it has published the Draft Government Decision on granting licences for the operation of radio frequencies for DAB+ broadcasting in Romania. The minimum licence fee for national multiplexes is 75,000 euros. "If regional multiplexes are allocated, the minimum license fee varies according to the area it is allocated to, ranging from 1,050 to 5,500 euros for a multiplex allocated in Bucharest," ANCOM's press release stated.

Romania's telecommunications authority ANCOM will conduct a public consultation ahead of auctioning the rights for the operation of one national DAB+ terrestrial digital audio broadcasting multiplex in the 223-230 MHz band (TV channel 12) and of one national T-DAB+ terrestrial digital audio broadcasting multiplex or 36 regional multiplexes in the 216-223 MHz band (TV channel 11).

The Romanian National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has published a tender document for public consultation that will oversee the introduction of DAB+ multiplexes in the country. Submissions can be made until 24 September, after which ANCOM will make recommended modifications to the intial proposal and establish a calendar for later action.

The Romanian National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) plans to award 10-year licences to operate national DAB+ multiplexes. The tender process will oblige winners to commence DAB+ services within two years of obtaining their licence.

In Switzerland, it is expected that in the autumn of 2019 a decision will be taken whether FM will go off completely in 2021, according to radio.nl. The original plan was that this would take place in phases between 2020 and 2024.

The Romanian regulator ANCOM has said it will propose legislative amendments ahead of a new DTT tender due to take place in the second half of the year. This follows the results of a public consultation on the spectrum available in the FM band (174-230 MHz) aimed at transforming a VHF digital TV multiplex into four DAB+ national multiplexes.